Saban’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle Review: Go Go

Real Talk By: Sully

Rangers! Rita Repulsa is back and the only the ones that can stop them are the teens with attitude! That’s right, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! Bandai Namco kicks up the nostalgic factor to 100% in Mega Battle. This side scrolling beat ‘em up pays homage to successful titles like Turtles in Time and Final Fight with its local cooperative gameplay and familiar level designs. Mega Battle will bring back fond memories of watching the original 90’s series, but lacks major features that drastically change the game experience. The biggest downfall is not supporting online co-op. That can be a deciding factor to some who are unsure about purchasing Mega Battle.

Just like most side scrolling games, Mega Battle falls short on story content. The main focus is getting you and your friends right into the action. There are eighteen different levels within the six chapters of the game. They recycled some familiar environments and obstacles in each stage such as fighting in the streets dodging cars and surfing through a level avoiding collisions.

You will encounter the Putty Patrol, Tangoo Warriors, and a few forgotten enemies that will make you question if they were really in the show or not. Ultimately, you must face Rita’s monsters and Lord Zedd during the game. Each chapter ends with a less than stellar boss fight as they made it far too easy in a button sequence performance. They lead you up to such disappointing boss fights after some difficult waves of enemies throughout each chapter. It would have been much more exciting if they paid tribute to the SNES Power Rangers Fighting Edition where you are in full-control of the Megazord while in battle.

Bandai Namco did a great job at putting together the sounds and music from the television series. The music is spot on with the original theme music from the show, as well some familiar voices from characters like Rita Repulsa and Alpha-5. Plus, they even nailed the sounds that Putty Patrol and that awkward “Ayah” from Tommy. There were parts in some levels where it felt like it had a glitch where the music overlapped, but it didn’t take away from the experience of having those sweet guitar riffs that we all came to love as kids.

Even with its flaws, I enjoyed playing Mega Battle. Being able to level up your ranger and spending skill points on several different moves in the skill tree kept the game fresh as you are playing. Plus, having a hit counter really helps keep you away from mindless button mashing gameplay. It isn’t a very long game as you can complete it by yourself in 5 hours. It’s worth beating as you will unlock several different modes after you finish the game. The rangers you leveled up during the main story will come in hand as you try to reach the 50th floor in the game mode, “Rita’s Tower.”

If they ever decide to add online co-op in Mega Battle, it would be well worth the investment of fifteen dollars. Power Rangers fans will have no problem enjoying this game regardless of online or local co-op. However, this game is meant to be played with others as there are some skills and achievements that can’t be obtained without their help. Even with a few hiccups, it’s been a fun experience that pays tribute to some of the best side scrolling games. It’s fun to play with friends on the couch, and the extras will keep it fresh. However, the replay value will be low unless Bandai Namco will release the online update that this game deserves.